Disturbed by your first real encounter with the demonic forces inhabiting Sunnydale, you spend a goodly amount of effort over the next year honing your understanding of the soul and the control of your aura. Briar helps as much as she's able, and you get further guidance from your dreams, but you're a bit surprised when, a few months on, Lu-sensei comments on your progress and offers advice on meditation. He also continues your education in the ancient art of asskicking, quite literally beating the lessons into you, all the while grinning cheerfully and saying it would hurt a lot less if you applied yourself more. You reflect that you could really get to hate that old man, if he weren't so useful and, well, right. Actually, his being right is at least half of the aggravation.

Gained Combat Prowess E+
Gained Physical Prowess E+++
Gained Spiritual Prowess D+

While you don't overly apply yourself at school, you keep up with the lessons just fine. More of your time is spent hanging out with your circle of friends on the playground. Cordelia has added several more girls to her personal circle, and Larry is likewise forming a loose, rough-and-tumble friendship with some of the more athletically-inclined boys; you make an effort to get to know these kids and others besides, something Cordelia approves of and helps you with as much as she's able to in the limited time you give her to work with. You're a bit startled to learn that Cordy knows every kid in the first two grades by their first name within a week of starting school, and is working on getting the names of important people in the higher grades. You don't go quite that far, but you definitely make yourself known. Being as big as most of the third-graders helps in that respect. Amy isn't as outgoing, and mostly settles for socializing with Cordy's circle of minions and occasionally practicing magic with you, but you do see her chatting with the Rosenberg girl a few times. They appear to get along tolerably well, although Willow tends to make herself scarce if you get too close.

Gained Mental Prowess E+
Gained Social Prowess C

Then there is your magic. After several months, you reach a new plateau of efficiency, utility, and of course, power. At this point, you have reached what both Briar and Ganondorf's memories consider to be the level of a competent practitioner, if not a particularly exceptional one. You can defend yourself adequately against most mundane or human-sized threats, and give spellcasting peers or low-level demons a good fight - as a bonus, you've managed to build your power without any significant changes to your appearance, aside from the usual development that comes from being a healthy, active child. At the same time, however, Briar sheepishly admits that you've outstripped her understanding of the sorcerous arts; you get a similar sense that you've just about tapped out what you can currently learn from your dreams. Further improvement will require delving deeper into your past life, finding a teacher in this life, or struggling along as best you can on your own. Each path has its risks, and its rewards.

Incidentally, you've worked out a low-level spell that makes people overlook Moblin. It's efficient enough not to leave a signature that is easily-traced through the background emanations of the Hellmouth, and you only need to cast it twice to get through a full day. The teachers and most of the kids at school just sort of go glaze-eyed and look past your dog without registering his presence. Amy and a handful of older kids who you suspect have some combination of above-average magical talent, magical training, and inhuman ancestry can still see Moblin, but the spell has ensured that the strangers don't think to comment on him, even if they were inclined to.

Gained Aura of Power D++
Gained Magical Prowess D++
Gained Past Life Experience D+++

What little free time you have left for the year, you spend with Briar. She doesn't object to it, but it's not until Christmastime that she finally admits to what had her so spooked about growing.

"You were guessing in the right direction," she says, sitting in your room and watching the dismal winter drizzle that replaces snow in Sunnydale. "Fairies naturally absorb magical energy in the environment. We can survive without it as long as we have actual food, but we're healthier and more powerful in magical environments. If we find a particularly strong source of magic, we start growing larger, eventually becoming Great Fairies."

"If it's natural for you, then why did you freak out?"

Briar gives you a look. "You're not going to be satisfied until I say it, are you?"

"Probably not, no."

She sighs. "Fine. The thing about Great Fairies, aside from being larger, smarter, and more powerful, is that they're the only fairies that can reproduce. It's supposed to take thousands of years and a lot of luck for any one of us little fairies to reach that point, but then you come along and do this" - she gestures at herself - "to me in less than half an hour." Briar flutters over and kicks you in the shin, hard enough that you can almost feel it. "Damn it, Alex! I'm only six hundred and five! I'm too young to be a mother!"

...aaand this conversation just got way more disturbing than you bargained for.